Outside the Gates
by Give A Hug
Summary: Hatuno Ikame preferably Akiri has never once been outside the gates of the ANBU orphanage, just because of her lousy guardian, Hatake Kakashi. When the time comes for the ‘niece’ of the Fourth Hokage to meet the famous Team Seven, how will she deal?


**A/N: Uh, this is a little forward in time. Kakashi is thirty, Team Seven are sixteen, and I chose to keep Sasuke with the team. He does come back, after all! Some mild spoilers, possibly, scattered through, but not the first few chapters.**

**Akiri really isn't related to Yondaime Hokage, as it will explain later on.**

Chapter One: Do You Remember? Sakura's Necklace

"_I can do it myself!"_

_Really, how many times had he heard that line? Just about every day when her pride was punctured. You know, she really needed to start thinking of something else to say, at least._

"_We've been over this before, Akiri," he sighed, plucking it out of her hands. "If you can't get it, just let me do it."_

"_OI! I CAN DO IT MYSELF!" she insisted, snatching the can back from him._

"_Akiri, for the love of God, you don't even have a can opener!" Kakashi rolled his eyes angrily._

_Hatake Kakashi was a laid back person. Nothing really could burst his cool exterior, but with this girl, she really knew how to make the line thinner and thinner… until it almost didn't exist. But, he was working on it. Nothing a good book and a bath later couldn't settle back down._

_Akiri, more known as Hatuno Ikame (but hated the name), still sat with the can of fruit in her hand, working her teeth around the edge in a very ridiculous manner. But, as she would clearly state in her mind later, she wouldn't had to have looked like and idiot if stupid Kakashi would have just let her do it herself! _

_She was fine until he decided she didn't know how to hold the can opener 'properly.' Upside-down or not, she would have gotten it to work! _

_And now the two sat, with a very little girl's dignity severely wounded, and an aggravated jounin who was keeping it all in to not just hit her across the head and take it._

_Funny, how people wouldn't understand that he didn't like kids. This should have been videotaped so he had documented evidence as to why he really would like to stay at home. Orphan or not, Akiri acted like a regular six-year-old, which was only one attitude right now— annoying._

"_Akiri-chan," Kakashi tried again, taking a deep breath. "I know you can do it on your own, so just have it," and he handed her the said famous can opener, turned around and walked away._

_Do you think he cared if she killed herself with it? Well, it might've left him with a conscious, but right now he didn't care to look into it. _

"_Stupid Hatake-san," she mumbled. "I mean Kakashi!" she quickly corrected herself, shaking her head dangerously._

_Seriously, why for the love of God did she keep calling him that? His was a big, fat meanie! He never liked her, so she never liked him._

_A few seconds later, Akiri heard a shrill of a shriek lay directly in her ear, making her drop the metal device and squeaked a little herself._

"_AKIRI-CHAN!" _

_The voice had a mind of its own, and the tone she'd never forget. The large women, about thirty or so, came wobbling straight up in her face. Now, don't get Akiri wrong, she really did like the owner of the ANBU orphanage. Sometimes, if everyone were really good, they'd get cookies. But that lady had a mind of keeping her eye on Akiri especially, and it was as if every moment she was about to die._

"_Who in the world gave you that to operate all by yourself?" Ms. Kraut gaped incredulously, as if it was a horrible sin._

_Akiri smirked. She knew she'd have the chance to take her revenge; she always did. _

_With a very innocent look and glazed over eyes, she pointed at Kakashi, who was lazily standing up against the wall, not taking a second glance at the other kids he'd rather __**not**__ help out. As her little finger slightly waved at the fifteen-year-old boy, she began to lie in a rather 'cute' manner._

"_Hatake-san said, 'here, I don't care,' and then gave it to me. So I said, 'But Hatake-san, Ms. Kraut says I should always let the grown-ups handle it!' and so he says, 'see if I give a damn, freak.'"_

_Then, Ms. Kraut shrieked at Akiri's own language. It was just a special touch Akiri wanted to add, considering she knew how much the adults freaked out when she cursed._

_Storming over in a heated mess, she watched pleasurably as the entire Mess Hall was staring in disbelief as Ms. Kraut blew her top and screamed and wailed at the jounin. After a grueling five minutes of embarrassment, he was kicked out and asked to never come back._

_Well, you could say Kakashi was surprised. But not that much, and he was pretty thankful. The day he didn't have to do stupid duties like this just because it belonged to the ANBU, the more time he had to himself. And really, he wouldn't have minded leaving the little brat of Akiri behind._

_And she was a little upset too. She didn't really think Ms. Kraut would go that crazy over a silly can opener, no matter how much she worried over her. Now she would have no one to torment or yell at, besides the other little bunkmates that were already deathly afraid of her. Kakashi gave her a challenge… now what?_

"_Shit," she murmured, as he meandered on by._

_Kakashi had ears like a fox, but chose to ignore such a foul mouth to come off that little girl. He hoped one day that she'd grow out of her overbearing pride._

The already introduced Hatuno Ikame sat under the tree outside of her home, smiling as she recalled lost memories.

Nagori, she called the odd giant oak, which had been brought in a long time ago from another place. She remembered, just nine years ago, when it had been planted, with a twig for a trunk and just about three leaves for its shelter.

Akiri (still keeping the childhood name) had never once taken pity on small things. She found herself spitting insults with her gifted tongue as young as the age of three at anyone she didn't like, which was a great deal of people. And when an ant would inch along its way, she found herself smashing her foot against the pavement, squirming back and forth until she could at least hear the scrunching subconsciously. It was how she had grown up, without a family, with her personality that no one had bothered to tame, and with her outlook on life.

But that sapling never seemed helpless in her eyes. It had a giant scream of "I'm going to make it," and she watched as through the darkest downpour and heaviest snow it would keep feeding itself strength. Yes, Nagori had eventually become what felt like a little part of her, even at the age of six. It reminded her of, well, her, to be exact.

"Nagori and Akiri." Sometimes people would refer to the two as if they were both living humans and best friends. There was only so much the girl could stand outside, and Nagori had been planted almost right next to the gates. The gates no one was allowed to leave without a guardian, the gates she wished would disappear. The two would sit and daydream about freedom. Maybe someday she could uproot it and take it with her. Yes, she knew it sounded rather stupid, but it felt rather good to at least think about it.

But today was special, because it was Monday. It was the beginning of a fairly long week ahead of her, filled with chores and psychopathic controlling women. Akiri would sit under Nagori early in the morning, reminiscing over fond reflections.

Well, the memory of Kakashi wasn't exactly a good one, but she had been thinking of where he had been lately. After all, he was the one who had been assigned to adopt her, yet never took the chance. He still managed to appear every now and then, maybe under a guilty conscious, and he was her only source to the outside world.

"AKIRI-CHAN!"

Damn, she hadn't even gotten to all the times she had been in town, and that old fart was already cracking at her.

The young girl unraveled herself, knowing it impossible to hide from Ms. Kraut, the owner of her home. As she stood and stretched, her lean figure began to lean almost backwards. She had very long legs and arms, and a tenuous build. Too bad it was the only thing going for her.

Akiri had wispy silver hair, practically a translucent white that always would remind her of an old lady in the mirror. She wore it in a regular ponytail that fell to her shoulders at the moment, resembling a smooth horsetail neatly aligned in the back of her head.

Smoothing out her apron, she picked up the stupid broom and trudged grumpily around the tree.

"Oh goodness, Akiri-chan, thank God I found you!" Ms. Kraut waddled over, a look of terror crossing her face.

She was a plump short woman, middle-aged, with a big stash of bright red hair on top of her head. She had a very bad case of nerves, and could get so easily stressed you would believe she was faking it. Under the wrinkles and flaps on skin on her face, you could make out two small hazel eyes that would widen graciously at the site of Akiri or something astonishing.

"I'm always here, Ms. Kraut," Akiri responded melancholy, giving one lingering, hoping look back to Nagori, as her repressor began to drag her by the wrist.

"But I called so many times and you didn't answer! Just think of what would happen if the niece of the Fourth Hokage died?" she spoke as if the world would end.

"No one would probably notice. Besides, I'm not going to be Hokage, Tsunade-sama will take Sandaime's place," Akiri explained dully.

Really, how was she related to the Fourth Hokage again? Something about Yondaime's mother's half-brother or something. She had no drop of blood from that family running strongly in her veins, though she did respect Yondaime Hokage, and had the pleasure of meeting him twice. Their relation was so far apart; it was easier and safer to pass it to a much elder Tsunade, no matter how much the lady would refuse to take the place.

For all it concerned Akiri, she had no family. She couldn't remember them, and the ones that happened to live didn't want her. They were a bunch of betraying weaklings who would have rather let her starve than take her in, not caring what bloodline she held.

Who cared if people would call her Hatuno Ikame. It didn't even sound like the Four Hokage's last name anyway. No one really knew what her name was, her parents were very secretive, and since she had been shuffled through a family with a million different last names (a lot of women seemed to be born), they had guessed upon Hatuno.

And did Akiri just hear Ms. Kraut say, "the niece of the Fourth Hokage!" What kind of messed up math did she use to get there?

"Ah," Ms. Kraut cooed in response, only giving Akiri a few moments to reflex. "How you respect Tsunade-san," she said as if Tsunade were a close friend or something.

And yet, it held an icy exterior to it. Ms. Kraut and Akiri were civilians in the Hidden Leaf Village that was massively created of ninja. Akiri had never wanted to take lessons, but only because people forced them onto her, so she had never learned even the simplest of genin ranking knowledge.

Secretly, she wouldn't have minded becoming one, though. It would have gotten her away from the orphanage a lot more, and she yearned for the outside world badly. Then again, after a few years you were grouped into permanent teams, and she didn't get along well with others.

Ms. Kraut began to ramble, but it didn't matter, Akiri hadn't been listening for quite sometime. She used to nod and reply with a 'uh-huh' or 'mm-hmm,' but now she didn't have to do anything. The poor old lady lived by herself, and just needed someone to talk to.

Of course, Akiri thought Ms. Kraut had an obsession with her, and it was weird. Not just because of the creepy aura of having a slightly stalker. But because Ms. Kraut truly hated all shinobi of all level, you could sense it in her voice when she talked about them. They way she'd kick out the hired jounin to help, or just the emotion of despise etched on her face.

"Well, well, come dear," Akiri finally zoned back in, just in time. "It's your turn to sweep the kitchen this morning. Oh, and tomorrow, please join the Great Hall for breakfast!"

"I wasn't hungry."

"Oh, but a growing beautiful lady like yourself needs it."

"I'm not beautiful. I'm not hungry. And I'm certainly not going to ever join that smelly container of idiots anytime soon," Akiri scowled, strutting away with full self-esteem.

"Temper, temper," Ms. Kraut shook her head, as the fourteen-year-old waltzed off. "She'll never lose that silly honor of hers," she shrugged, and began to head off in another direction.

"Hey, Kage, at least do it right," someone spat distastefully in Akiri's ear.

"You rumbling pile of dog shit," Akiri retorted ever so calmly, as the young boy stumbled back at the comment. "What a complete moron to call me Kage, when it is a very honorific title. Oh well, freaks like you do try and tell me how to sweep ridiculously every now and then with a mistake."

Aiden, the same age as her and forever rival could only glare her down with as many daggers as he could. Too bad she never looked up from sweeping the gathered dust and trash in the pan from the floor.

After dumping the contents into the wastebasket, and dusting off her hands, Akiri made a note to look straight into Aiden's deep blue eyes.

Did she hate him? No, actually, he was just a nuisance. A 'sworn enemy' that could only irritate her if he was in the room long enough. He was so pathetic she didn't even waste her time or effort to lose her cool. But she had to admit, she spent quite a lot of hours with him perfecting her cold ignorance, after she had learned screaming and kicking wouldn't work.

He whipped a hand through his brown hair, the few strands that fell out of his own ponytail at the base of his neck and huffed angrily. He was never one to think of quick comebacks like Akiri, and that was always his downfall to winning.

"See you later, horse tail," Akiri finally smirked, and as she walked by made sure to give his hair a yank.

"Hey, wait, you—" but alas, he couldn't think of anything to fit this morning's situation.

_It's early, I'm tired_, he tried to reassure himself. _I'll think more clearly later on. And then Hatuno will get a piece of my mind._

"You finally decided to show up?" Akiri asked, amused as she leaned against the handle of the broom.

"I found it in my spare time to remember a brat like you," the man mused back, ruffling her hair.

"Ha, ha," she snapped icily, furiously pushing her hair back down. "What's the news, baka?"

"Respect your elders, kid," Kakashi lazily instructed, laying down into the couch that stood in the institution, tired of standing.

Akiri propped her broom against the arm of the couch and made a point to sit right next to him. Not to get closer, but to show she wasn't going to let him get comfortable.

"Would you just tell me?" she urged impatiently.

"Oh, nothing really has happened. One of my students got a chopstick stuck in his nose a while back though," Kakashi shrugged.

"That Naruto kid?"

"Surprisingly, it was Sasuke. Done by Naruto of course, who soon had one followed up his nostril straight afterward. It was their…reunion, you could say, after a long time."

"Why do you train such idiots?"

"They have great potential. Besides, you'd have to meet them for yourselves."

True, Akiri had never met the students Kakashi had taught for several years. Lately, everyone had hit a rough spot, and Kakashi was gone for very long periods of time. She was used to not seeing him, but these were exceptionally tiresome months without news. The last she had heard, the one named Sasuke had vanished, and the ones he called Naruto and Sakura had gotten a different sensei, but that was nearly two years ago. He had shown up rarely in-between the two, but would barely fill her in on that, considering she didn't care.

"Oh, and Jiraiya-san has put out a new book!" Kakashi suddenly remember, withdrawing an orange book from his bag.

Akiri rolled her eyes heavily. "Perverted old fart," she murmured corrosively.

"Well, what do you want me to tell you?" Kakashi said after their short silence, shrugging. "Nothing is attacking the village, and other than that you wouldn't care about how the fruit stand on Amour is on strike."

"Then why are you here?"

He rose and eyebrow. "Good question. Why do I come here…ah yes, you can't live without me. What if I never showed up?"

Akiri was ripped in-between insulting him or dumping her ego to get to the point she desperately wanted. Kakashi seemed to dangle news over her head, and manage to get away with it painfully. Finally, though she protected it with all her life, she decided to lay down her gratification for once. He had only fanned the spark; there was no fire yet.

"I was just thinking if you actually decided to visit then you had something good to tell me," she shot angrily. "I mean, I'm not your therapist or anything, but when there's a lot going on, you come and tell me…usually," she added effectively, after she thought over what she had said.

Kakashi had been offered the idea of taking in Akiri at a young age, thereafter she wouldn't have to stay in the ANBU shelter till she was of age (eighteen). He easily declined, and yet, couldn't keep away from at least visiting her. It was usually about once every two months, but still, he showed up, and it was enough satisfactory as Akiri could hope for out of him.

"Oh, that's another thing," Kakashi raised a limp finger. "I did come here for a reason."

"It better be a good one."

"Want to get out of this hole?"

"Would I!" Akiri excitedly jumped, but smothered her enthusiasm quickly to not look humiliating.

She had been outside the gates. At least once a month, when Ms. Kraut would go out shopping. Sadly, their store was right around the corner, so she hardly saw anything.

Kakashi had taken her once, to a place called the Ichiraku Ramen, for her birthday a long time ago. She could barely remember why his sympathy towards her was so high, perhaps someone had died and she hadn't realized it. That was really a site.

And who could forget the very first time she had truly seen all of Konoha with the Third Hokage himself, right after Yondaime had died?

Akiri yearned for adventure, for a life outside of the system. Sure, they had plenty of land here at ANBU OE, but she had scoped it all in a matter of hours. Staying confined, for long grueling hours— it wasn't meant for her. It had turned her affection dark and her humor deathly sarcastic. It had changed her into woman with a boring outlook of life, one that seemed to have no meaning. Not even enough to hate herself or try suicide, and especially no meaning to care about anything. That was the worst torment you could ever receive.

Little things would come, rarely, and pass, where she could seek and love them. Nagori and anything outside the gates were the only two things in her life that seemed precious. Even Kakashi had turned into just a source for reaching her goals.

But what else did she have to live for? No one wanted her….

"I mean, where would we go?" she coughed, as Kakashi gave a hidden smirk.

"Well, you see, it's Sakura's birthday pretty soon, and I really don't understand women…."

Akiri groaned. "You're going to use me to shop for a girl? I mean, I know I'm the same gender and all but, come on Kakashi, you couldn't get anyone better?"

He shrugged. "I figured since you wanted to get out, and you were the same age as her, you could do something. What do you say?"

Hey, she could always just wander around and not chose anything, then simply claim it a women trait, could she not? Fixing the problem of choosing a gift, her answer did not take long to come upon.

"Alright! I mean…alright," she blushed a deep red, feeling completely embarrassed at her stupid excitement.

"Let's go," he stood up, with a wave of his hand, and turned around.

It was about time she got out….


End file.
